The Colors Whisper
by glitterfairyRG
Summary: Lily Evans was more than reverential to the rules- they were there for a reason. The first patronization you make towards a fellow student, and you were out of Lily's good books. James Potter was out of Lily's good books the first day she'd met him.


-**PROLOGUE**-

She didn't saunter through the halls like _he_ did.

She didn't break the rules like _he_ did.

Lily Evans was more than reverential to the rules (they were there for a reason) and the professors and students at Hogwarts. She often judged someone by their respect for others. The first patronization you make towards a fellow student, and you were out of Lily's good books.

James Potter was out of Lily's good books the first day she'd met him.

He was an awfully tall boy, with unruly hair and hazel eyes. He wore round glasses and often walked as if he were king of the world.

This annoyed Lily to no end.

Another thing that aggravated her was the fact that no matter how much she hated and despised James Potter, she could barely ever keep her mind off of him; she could never really remove her eyes from the back of his head in Transfiguration; she would always tremble when he stared at the back of her head in Charms.

It was disgusting in her mind--to _like_ James-Sodding-Potter _staring_ at her? It was the most ridiculous thing to think about or consider. She twisted all of the feelings for him into anger, thus creating the weirdest relationship between her and the brunette.

Whenever James would walk through the hall, he'd give her a bright smile, showing a row of perfect sparkling teeth; Lily would merely scowl and turn away, squashing all of her thoughts of him. Whenever James let lose a snitch in the common room, he'd make sure to catch it in her line of vision; Lily would pretend to be interested in the intricate design of the Gryffindor carpet.

But at night, when she lay tucked into her bed, Lily would imagine him next to her. And as much as she hated it, she loved it all the same time.

She would pretend the softness of the sheets against her cheek was James' slender neck. She'd pretend that the blankets wrapped around her were James' strong arms. And that's what calmed her enough to let sleep take her. The thoughts of James swimming through her head relaxed her. And when she finally did succumb to sleep, she'd dream of James.

But Lily Evans would never tell a soul that she was infatuated with that sodding big-headed boy.

Not ever.

**  
**-**YEAR 1**-

_September 1, 1971_

"Mum, I'll be fine," Lily said with slight uncertainty as she gazed at the barrier of Platform 9 ¾.

"Oh, Admon, I don't like this at all," Mrs. Evans said with watery eyes.

"Now, Flora, Lily will mail us everyday with that owl we got for her, won't you Lily?" Mr. Evans said.

Lily nodded, and asked with glassy eyes, "If I don't like it there, Daddy, will you come pick me up?"

"Of course, baby," Admon said, picking Lily up under her arms and swinging her around once.

When he put his daughter down with a groan, Lily said with a giggle, "You're getting too old for that, Dad."

Her father chuckled. "I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Can we leave now?" Petunia cut in with a sneer. "Yvonne and I were supposed to meet at-"

"In a minute, Petunia," Flora said sternly before turning back to Lily.

Lily frowned as her mother started to mess with her hair. "Mu- _um_," Lily said, ducking her head down to avoid her mother's attacking hands. "I'll be late if I don't go."

"It's only ten-fifteen, Lily," Flora said after consulting her wrist watch.

"I want to get a good seat," Lily said, exasperated.

Hurriedly, Lily kissed her mother and father's cheeks, and with a bit of hesitation, gave Petunia a quick hug.

"I promise to mail- I mean, owl you," Lily tossed over her shoulder, pushing her trolley forward.

As Lily ran towards the barrier, full-speed, she heard her mother sobbing.

_God,_ Lily prayed while shutting her eyes, _please, don't let me crash into the brick wall. Please, don't let me have to get wrapped up in toilet paper from head to toe and go on display like the mummies they probably have at Hogwarts._

_Please, let me be a witch._

As Lily prayed those last words, she felt a warm breeze lift her hair as she dashed through the magical barrier. She slammed her heels and skidded to a stop, her green eyes wide with wonder. Before her, a scarlet train huffed steam, golden sunlight shining at it, making its appearance _glow_.

Lily hardly had the time to appreciate the train's majesty, however.

"Watch out!"

Lily ducked down just before a heavy red ball could slam into her head.

"Sorry!" A boy with thick black hair flashed a smile, collected the ball, and ran off laughing towards who Lily assumed where his friends.

_Splendid_, Lily thought sardonically, staring at the group of boys now rushing onto the train._ I walk through a brick wall, almost get knocked out by a ball, and am utterly alone._

"Are you all right?" A girl with a curly blonde bob came into Lily's line of vision. Her brown eyes looked concerned. "Boys are all sods. Those will probably end up in Slytherin, no doubt."

Lily, still a little shaken, asked cautiously, "Slytherin?"

The girl smiled. "Is this your first year to Hogwarts, too? I've heard all about it from my father. He went to Hogwarts. My mother's a Muggle, so she never went; she's fascinated by magic though."

"Muggle?" Lily bit her lip, overwhelmed by all of this information. "What's a Muggle?"

"You're Muggle-born, aren't you," the girl said more than asked.

Lily shrugged uneasily. "I suppose."

"My name is Candace, by the way; Candace Richmond."

Candace shook Lily's hand. "Lily Evans," Lily responded with a smile, relieved she'd made a friend.

_And just to think, I made a friend because I almost got knocked out by a ball bigger than my head,_ Lily mused.

Lily and Candace unloaded their trolleys, all the while, Candace filled Lily in on Hogwarts, but all too soon, they had to halt conversation. Candace found her other friends while they were looking for a compartment on the train.

Lily thanked God that Candace introduced her.

There were two boys and two girls. Sitting by the window was Remus Lupin, a rather lanky boy with a head full of thick, light brown hair and eyes the color of honey; Candace lived a few blocks away from him, and they often met each other on the playgrounds. To Lily, Remus seemed like a humble, even studious boy, but Lily knew not to judge a book by its cover. He could be evil for all she knew.

_Or a werewolf_, Lily thought in hilarity after shaking the boy's hand.

Lily read about magical creatures, and the idea of anyone being a Half-breed or an Animagus was out of this world.

The other boy was Peter Pettigrew, a chubby kid with thin blonde hair and watery blue eyes. He was sitting next to Remus quietly, stuttering over words when he shook Lily's hand.

Then there were the girls. One looked quite intimidating; her name was Allene Alexander. She had thick, wavy brown hair that flowed to the middle of her back, and forest green eyes. Allene had a basket beside her on the floor, a black cat with golden eyes staring at Remus and Peter suspiciously.

The girl next to her, Jolene Lee, was apparently Allene's distant cousin (as all Pure-bloods were). Even though they were cousins, they looked nothing alike: Jolene had thick, straight black hair, so black it looked almost blue, and small brown eyes. When Jolene had smiled at Lily, her eyes crinkled, and Lily could barely see the iris of her eyes.

After Lily took a seat and settled in between Jolene and Candace, Remus shifted uncomfortably and then sighed in exasperation.

"Will you tell your bloody cat to stop looking at us like that?" Remus asked Allene.

Allene laughed in amusement. "He won't do anything," she said.

"Well, why is he staring at us like _that_? Like he's about to tear us apart and eat us with tuna?"

Allene shrugged nonchalantly and looked back down at the book on her lap_, A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration._ "Maybe he's hungry."

"You know, I never liked that cat," Jolene said, eyeing the cat warily, as if it were about to pounce. "I'm _so_ a dog person."

For some reason, Remus grinned.

Lily smiled at Allene, suddenly interested in the intelligent cat. "Is it part Kneazle?"

Lily had read about the clever animals from the book in her trunk that was now in the luggage compartment. At Diagon Alley, there was a bookstore called Flourish and Blott's that fascinated Lily to no end. She wanted to buy the entire store! The necessary books for her first year were expensive enough, though, so she could only get one book to sustain her curiosity.

It was quite safe to say that it didn't quell her inquisitiveness at all; that one book made Lily even more curious. Lily felt as if she'd been deprived of something for so long that now all she wanted was the one thing she couldn't have.

"Yup," Allene said proudly, "his name's Jett." The cat glanced at Allene when hearing his name and looked at her as if raising an eyebrow before turning around and staring at Remus and Peter again.

"He's cute," Lily said, smiling at the cat.

The cat threw a look over at Lily, and its yellow eyes twinkled. He probably understood what Lily had said. She giggled.

As the train headed north, Lily's eyes wandered to the window, taking in the countryside with interest. Lily lived in the country. She had pet chickens, ducks, goats, cows, and horses on her family's property. She loved tending to the garden, and she loved sitting outside and reading while she heard the various animal sounds in the distance.

She would surely miss her home. Lily hoped Hogwarts would be welcoming.

A few minutes later, the compartment door opened, and a boy with smoky grey eyes and dark black locks poked his head in. When he saw Remus, he grinned and entered, a boy with hazel eyes trailing behind him.

"Allene and Jolene, how lovely to see you again!" the boy with the grey eyes shouted with glee. He turned his head to look at all the occupied seats, and then grinned mischievously. "I see we have company," he said, letting out a vicious laugh, and Lily raised her eyebrows in curiosity.

_Where __was__ this boy _from_?_ It took Lily a moment to realize that this was the boy who'd almost cracked her skull open with what Lily found out from Candace to be a Quaffle.

Lily's eyes were drawn to the boy with the hazel eyes and glasses. He was gangly, hair messy and windswept. He had a slight air of arrogance about him, but Lily found that oddly fascinating.

"And who might you be?" The boy with the grey eyes was suddenly in front of Lily, and she couldn't help but make a tiny peep of surprise.

"I'm Lily," she said. "You know, the one you almost killed with a Quaffle?"

_This boy is rather unusual,_ Lily thought.

"You're named after a flower," he pointed out unnecessarily, ignoring her jab about her near death experience.

Lily couldn't help laughing. "So I've noticed."

"Well, Lily Flower, I am Sirius, King of the Universe," he introduced while bowing low.

"Would the 'King of the Universe' please get his arse out of my face?" Remus said. The girls all laughed at the sound of distress in Remus' voice. "It's quite disturbing."

Sirius shook his bum and Lily laughed harder at the look on Remus' face. The boy with the hazel eyes sat beside Lily after Jolene moved over to make room.

"I'm James," he said with a grin. Before Lily could politely say something back, James tugged on her hair softly. "You're hair is rather . . . bright, don't you think? Did you charm it that way?"

Lily didn't know why; maybe it was the fact that James was a bit bigheaded and that he touched her hair without permission, but he made her face heat up with anger.

She pulled the strand of flaming red hair from his fingers and said, "No, I didn't _charm_ it that way, whatever that means."

"You're Muggle-born, aren't you?" he asked, a lazy, lopsided smile blooming on his face.

"And what if I am? I don't even know what that means!" Lily was slightly fed up. She had never _not_ known anything before, and it was driving her absolutely mad.

"Muggle-born, by definition, is a Wizarding person born of two non-magical parents: Muggles," Allene recited distractedly, as if reading the definition out of the book that was still in her lap.

Sirius raised an eyebrow Allene's way. "Studious, I see," he said, cheekily.

Allene glared at him.

Lily really hoped the train ride would be over soon.

Lily's eyes were shut tightly, and her breathing was shallow. On her head was the Sorting Hat. It was mumbling in her ear.

"Brave, and also smart. Loyal and daring; ah, and bold too," the Hat said. "This is a hard decision. There are three ways to go, Miss Evans. Does your heart lie in Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor?"

The Sorting Hat hummed before shouting, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily nearly fell out of her chair in relief. She just wanted to get out of the spotlight; sitting there with the Great Hall staring at you as if you were an extraterrestrial wasn't pleasant, she decided.

As the Sorting Hat was removed from her head, Lily noticed that Gryffindor House was clapping loudly for her, and a blush crept up her neck and to her face as she walked towards the table, heating the freckles she detested of.

Lily joined Allene and Sirius at the end of the table, both sorted into Gryffindor, and they grinned at her in welcome as a boy named Slade Hoffman made his way up to be sorted next.

It took half an hour to complete the sorting, and once it was over, the loud chatter of the hall quieted at once when the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, stood up. He was a tall, thin man, wise-looking and old; he had a crooked nose, and perched upon that nose was a pair of half-moon shaped glasses. Dumbledore had white, flowing hair and a long beard, snowy eyebrows and twinkling, kind blue eyes.

Lily was immediately swept by a warm feeling in her tummy; the Headmaster reminded her of her grandfather that had passed not a year ago. She felt her eyes burn a bit, and just then, Dumbledore gazed at her and winked. Lily smiled.

"Welcome all, welcome all, to Hogwarts! I'd make a few announcements, but I'm sure you, as am I, are all ravenous. That said, tuck in!"

Lily's eyes widened when food magically appeared on the table.

"Holy Hippogriffs," Allene and Jolene whispered together, astonishment lacing their words as they gawked at the table.

Lily looked towards the boys; they were already shoveling food into their mouths while adding even more food to their already loaded plates.

"Goosh shuff," Sirius said through a mouthful of food.

Lily scrunched her nose in distaste and then glanced at Candace, whom was blinking at Sirius in disgust. Candace caught her gaze and rolled her eyes.

"Boys," they muttered together before laughing and serving themselves.

Lily dished up more food than she knew she could eat, but she wanted to try everything, and it all looked so delicious. There were drumsticks and chicken wings piled high on the table beside a huge bowl of mashed potatoes. Corn on the cob, already buttered and seasoned sat next to a plate of steak and kidney pie. She couldn't resist the aromas of the roast beef resting on a platter with carrots and baked potatoes. Even more plates down the table contained pork chops, Yorkshire pudding, fries, sausages, peas . . .

"Mmm," Lily hummed.

The food was delicious. She ate as much as she could, though she ate it slowly to savor the taste, not at all like James and his friends were doing. When everyone was mostly done, they all groaned when the food vanished and was replaced with sweets of all kinds.

"Oh, Merlin," Allene moaned from in front of Lily as she gazed at the mountainous bowl of chocolate ice cream.

Jolene, who sat beside her cousin, was looking longingly at the pecan pie beside some caramel candied apples. Lily took one of these and bit into it, her mouth watering with all the sweetness. She was completely bursting after trying some chocolate éclairs and taking a bite from a piece of cheesecake she'd cut herself.

Candace, beside Lily, took one last, tiny bite of treacle tart before she let her fork clatter onto her golden plate. She held her stomach and sighed in content. Lily laughed sleepily.

Slowly, Dumbledore got to his feet. Again, the hall silenced.

"A few notices for the new students, and for some of the old," Dumbledore's eyes rested on the Slytherin table for a moment before he continued. "The Forbidden Forest is prohibited; many dark creatures lurk in there," Dumbledore said simply.

Lily's eyes widened.

"I'd also like to inform you, that sadly our recent caretaker, Apollyon Pringle, has decided to retire. He will be replaced by Mr. Filch." There was a polite round of applause. "And now," Dumbledore cried, "the Hogwarts' song!"

The elder students all laughed in joy and stood on their feet. The first years followed.

Lily bit her lip. She didn't know the Hogwarts song. She turned to Candace, whose brown eyes were wide in anxiety.

"Do you know the song?" Lily asked, desperately.

Candace shook her head.

"It's okay," Allene said from across the table. "The Headmaster will put up the words for us," she reassured.

"How do you know?" Candace asked, inquisitively.

Before Allene could answer, the Headmaster flicked his wand, and at once, the occupants of the Great Hall all bellowed:

"_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald,_

_Or young with scabby knees_."

As the song continued, Lily tried to keep up, but she was falling over in laughter with Candace, and they giggled through the rest of the song. In the end, James and Sirius were the last ones singing, belting out the last line at the top of their lungs. The Hall was laughing in hilarity and clapping and whistling. Lily was flushed pink and breathless with delight. She was certainly going to have fun here at Hogwarts.


End file.
